Lord MacLehose

Lord Murray MacLehose, who has died aged 82, was a generally enlightened and always energetic governor of Hong Kong. From 1971 to 1982 he presided over a critical period of change, supervising the rapid growth of higher education, public housing and mass transport, which led to the emergence of a new autonomous Hong Kong identity. By the time he left, the word "colony" had become politically incorrect, and he had opened up (though perhaps ill-advisedly) the question of Hong Kong's future with Beijing.

"I pushed very hard to achieve quick expansion of social services and housing," he recalled later. "All this seemed to me right and essential on its merits." It was also a necessary response to the riots of the Cultural Revolution, which had underlined the wide gap between colonial anachronism and modern aspiration. "We were determined to build not just dormitories but communities," said MacLehose. He pushed for the development of new towns in the New Territories to include all public services, including schools and green space.

Older Hong Kongers remember best his role in creating the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1973, after wide public protest at the case of the expatriate police officer Peter Godber, who fled the colony after being asked to account for his unusual wealth. Until then most colonial officials had turned a blind eye to corruption - while some helped themselves to a slice of it. But after the commission's initial successes MacLehose blinked, too, in 1977, when he was forced to grant a partial amnesty after threatened policemen stormed the ICAC offices and assaulted its staff. Later, MacLehose justified the climb-down.

MacLehose was first sent to Hong Kong in 1963 as political adviser, the Foreign Office's eyes and ears next to the governor. He was already a Chinese linguist, having served in the British consulate in Hankou, witnessing the Chinese communist victory in 1949. It was his first posting abroad for the Foreign Office, after Rugby school, Balliol College, Oxford, and naval service during the second world war. He also served as ambassador to Vietnam (1967-69) and Denmark (1969-71).

MacLehose's ideas on how to modernise Hong Kong did not include nurturing its first shoots of democracy. Senior officials under his administration, and for years afterwards, scoffed at the modest aims of the new middle-class "pressure groups" who were subjected to covert Special Branch scrutiny.

The current leader of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, Martin Lee, argues that MacLehose missed a chance to advance democracy before it became a contentious issue with China. MacLehose insisted till the end that he was right to take no action and quietly expressed disapproval of the efforts made, very late in the day, by Chris Patten as governor, to force the pace of democratic change. His appointment signifed a shift from the colonial mode, and his successors - until Patten - also came from the Foreign Office. It was tacit recognition that Hong Kong's future would not be determined by de-colonisation but by negotiation with Beijing.

An invitation to the Chinese capital by the post-Mao government of Deng Xiaoping in 1979 raised hopes unduly high. MacLehose made the tactical mistake of trying to suggest something original instead of just listening to what Deng had to say. The message from the Chinese leader was that "capitalism in Hong Kong can continue well into the next century" and that its people - specifically its business people - should "set their hearts at ease".

MacLehose sought to finesse this concession into the political sphere, floating the idea that Britain could continue to "administer" Hong Kong after the crucial 1997 deadline for the leased New Territories expired. Later he would say defensively that his visit had not started negotiations for the future. Indeed it had not, but it alerted Deng to a new scenario where he was quick to suspect devious British intentions.

Public confidence in Hong Kong soared and the Hang Seng Index doubled in a year. But three years later Mrs Thatcher's stubborn attempt to secure the same deal for the future was slapped down contemptuously, getting the negotiations for the 1984 Joint Declaration off to a dismal start.

At the present time, when urban Hong Kong spends most days shrouded in pollution, the fruits of MacLehose's efforts to conserve the countryside provide welcome relief. The birth of the country park system owes much to his vision. He established a team of keen foresters, naturalists and administrators, and 21 parks were set up before he retired. He was himself a keen walker. The 100-kilometre MacLehose Trail now includes the splendid heights of the New Territories.

He is survived by his wife, Noël, and two daughters.

John Gittings

Lord Wilson of Tillyorn writes: There is a splendid picture of Murray MacLehose in 1979, during the first official visit by a governor of Hong Kong to Beijing since the communist victory in China. The 6ft 3in MacLehose towers over the powerful but diminutive figure of Deng Xiaoping, then just establishing his position as China's leader.

What was striking though was not so much the disparity of size and background of the two men but their ability to find things in common. MacLehose came to be governor of Hong Kong with a quite unique background. He could, and did, talk to Chinese leaders about being on different sides of the line as the communist armies swept south in 1949. He had worked behind the Japanese lines in south-east China during the second world war. He had been studying Chinese in Amoy. He could feel China through the pores of his skin. And Chinese people knew that with the ability to feel went great affection and understanding.

His other great asset was a down-to-earth lack of formality and a keen enthusiasm for getting things done. He was never happier than when tackling some major problem: the need for a massive housing programme; dealing with corruption in the police force; setting up district boards to bring government closer to ordinary people; or building up a pragmatic relationship with China after years of conflict and mistrust.

Inaction made him uneasy, and his ability to cope with a mass of different issues, and a mass of paper, often late into the night, was legendary. Perhaps that was learned when he was private secretary to foreign secretary George Brown - in itself no easy ride and a good training for any difficulties to follow.

Many things, and the memories of many people, are there in Hong Kong to mark the time of Murray MacLehose. Among them is the MacLehose Trail spanning Hong Kong from east to west. It is a very fitting memorial to set beside the hundreds of high-rise blocks of public housing and the bustling harbour and airport. He relished the countryside of Hong Kong and its surrounding seas and islands, and was never happier than when paddling about in a small rowing boat or walking in the hills of the New Territories.

When he left Hong Kong in April 1982, after 10 outstanding years as governor, the editor of the leading English language paper wrote that he was: "The right man at the right time." He was indeed.

Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, diplomat, born October 17 1917; died May 17 2000